


So it goes

by tray_la_la



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-14
Updated: 2010-01-14
Packaged: 2017-10-06 07:16:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tray_la_la/pseuds/tray_la_la
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James was the first to say it wouldn't work. Apparently, some things never do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	So it goes

They met at a carnival. No, that wasn't right. You can't really meet someone you've known since you were eleven. Still, it was the first time they'd really spoken, the first time Albus heard Scorpius laugh.

They walked through the carnival, past rides and children and the mothers chasing after them, and they shared candy floss. Albus had really wanted to win Scorpius a teddy bear – he'd always been good at that game with the muggle guns that squirt water – but he resisted. They steered clear of the Tunnel of Love too. Scorpius' hand in his felt like finally and Albus thought, _This must be joy_. He didn't want to press his luck.

James was the first to say it wouldn't work. Apparently, some things never do.

"That's the way we are wired," Scorpius had explained, as though that was all there was to say. Albus had stared back at him, face blank and expressionless, and said nothing. Scorpius sighed and repeated himself. "It's the way we're wired." He looked at Albus expectantly – impatiently, even (Merlin, the nerve) – but still, nothing.

Scorpius closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again he gave Albus a hard look. There was no remorse there. "It sucks but it's just a fact of nature. It's also tragic." If Scorpius had said the same thing only a minute before, Albus would have thought he sounded pompous and ridiculous, and he would have loved Scorpius for it. Instead, he nodded and tried not to listen to the sound of his heart breaking.

Albus saw them at the carnival the following year, sharing candy floss as they stood in line to buy tickets for the Tunnel of Love. Albus had wanted to run away, as far and as fast as he could, but he felt rooted to the spot. Paralyzed, almost. No, that wasn't right. More like he was mesmerized by how painful irony could be and he just couldn't seem to move.

Still, he needed to leave before they turned and saw him, before he'd have to smile and nod and play along like his heart wasn't breaking all over again. Besides, admitting he'd tagged along with James and his girlfriend would be a whole new kind of losing, and Albus wasn't quite prepared for that. So he left.

Later, though, when everything was dark except the bright lights from the Ferris wheel, Albus saw them again. The other boy, the one Albus had lost to, dragged Scorpius down a hill near the edge of the grounds, and Albus wanted to be the one taking Scorpius down there. The one to make Scorpius his. To hear Scorpius laugh and to kiss him in a merry-go-round. But, still, Albus could never forgive him. No, that wasn't right. So he left.


End file.
